BILLY STARK insists Jackie McNamara had an inner desire which made him a winner as a player. And Stark is sure McNamara will use those qualities to thrive as a manager.

Jackie McNamara is being backed to be a successful manager by Billy Stark

Scotland Under-21 coach Stark was Tommy Burns’ assistant at Celtic when McNamara signed in 1995 from Dunfermline.

McNamara will return to the club where he spent 10 trophy-laden years when he takes Dundee United to Celtic Park tomorrow.

It will be the first time McNamara has faced his former club in his fledgling career in management.

Jackie was a boy you felt wanted to take in what you were saying and put it into practice

Billy Stark

And while Stark admits McNamara had a quiet demeanor as a player, he recalls that hid his fierce will to win.

Stark said: “Jackie was a boy you felt wanted to take in what you were saying and put it into practice.

“That’s why he developed and became a top international player.

“A lot of people felt he was maybe a wee bit small but he had the full package, great composure on the ball, the full weight in his tackle.

“And he had, which maybe relates to management, an inner core where he really wanted to win.

“There are guys you look back on over the years – John Greig, Billy McNeill, Roy Aitken and John Brown, people like that who wanted to win games.

“There are other people who are not as demonstrative as that but have a real steeliness to them and do everything they can to win.

“That will stand him in very good stead in management.

“We still seem to judge people by if they jump about and shout at the referee, and apparently if you don’t do that you don’t have a passion for the game, but that’s just ridiculous.

“He’s young and he was thrust into the Partick Thistle job but that’s a very good job to cut your teeth at because it’s a good club with real aspirations to be a top league team and Jackie was starting to take them down that road.

“Timing is everything in football and everybody can debate whether it was the right time for him to go or not, but when you get an opportunity like that you would probably agree he had to take it.”